Perfetto Polenta Cake

This is such a beautiful cake to enjoy in the afternoon with a cup of coffee or tea or as a light dessert. Very moist and light, just the way we like it.

Serve it with a dollop of mascarpone on the side or with ice cream and some crumbled Amaretti biscuits. You can substitute the Aperol or Cointreau with a citrusy Limoncello if you prefer.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• Zest & juice of 2 Oranges
• 3 eggs
• 250g caster sugar
• 100g polenta
• 200g ground almonds
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the orange syrup:

• 100g caster sugar
• Juice of 3 oranges
• 75ml Aperol

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease the base of a 23cm loose-bottomed cake tin  with butter and line the with baking parchment.

Place the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are pale in colour. Fold in the orange zest and juice into the mixture, then add the polenta, ground almonds and baking powder and mix together. Pour the mixture into the tin and spread evenly and bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool in the tin and set aside.

To prepare the syrup, pour the sugar into a saucepan and heat slowly until the sugar melts and caramel coloured bubbles appear. Pour in the orange juice with the Aperol or Cointreau and bring to the boil and cook for 5-10 minutes more or until the liquid has reduced by half.

Remove the cooled cake from the tin and place on a serving plate. Drizzle the syrup over the cake and on the side with crumbled Amaretti biscuit around the plate to add texture. Serve with a scoop of Mascarpone or Vanilla ice cream on the side for the perfect refreshing dessert. Buon Appetito…